Despite 7-4 Record, William & Mary Struggles in Loss to Purdue

By Jake Fischer

Sandra Dukes-USA TODAY Sports

Although the William & Mary Tribe entered their second-to-lastnon-conference game of the 2012-2013 season having had great success against their opponents, head coach Tony Shaver and company struggled against a tough Big Ten opponent.

After the Tribe fell to the Purdue Boilermakers 73-66 on Saturday, the Colonial Athletic Association club dropped to just 1-5 all-time against Big Ten Schools.

The loss to Purdue ended the Tribe’s four-game winning streak. It also further aided the argument that W&M can’t really compete against tough competition this season. In fact, they’re now 0-3 against opponents of conference’s higher ranked than the CAA. With the team slated to close out non-conference play against Vanderbilt on the road, it looks as if they might add another to their loss column.

With that in mind, the Tribe will definitely need big performances from their starters against the Commodores. Against Purdue, the Tribe’s starting studs, Kyle Gaillard, Brandon Britt, Marcus Thornton and Tim Rusthoven combined for 50 of the William & Mary’s 66 points. Thornton scored 21.

For the remainder of this season, the Tribe will only go as far as these four players can take them.

If that’s a tough task, the road will be tough, but if it’s easily doable, look for Willaim & Mary to be a prominent factor in Richmind come March.

Jake Fischer is the CAA Correspondent for Rant Sports-NCAA Basketball. Make sure to follow Jake on Twitter @JakeLFischer.